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Different Pasts, Shared Future

Refugee Week takes place every year across the world in the week around World Refugee Day on the 20th June.  This year the week runs from 18-24th June 2018.  The theme for this year’s Week is ‘Different Pasts, Shared Future’. The 2018 event marks Refugee Week’s twentieth anniversary.

Refugee Week started in 1998 as a direct reaction to hostility in the media and society towards refugees and asylum seekers.  It has rapidly become part of the cultural calendar, and is now one of the leading initiatives working to counter this negative climate, defending the importance of sanctuary and the benefits it can bring to both refugees and host communities.

The aims of Refugee Week are:

  • To encourage and facilitate positive encounters between refugees and the general public in order to encourage greater understanding and overcome hostility
  • To showcase the talent and expertise that refugees bring with them
  • To explore new and creative ways of addressing the relevant issues and reach beyond the refugee sector
  • To provide information which educates and raises awareness of the reality of refugee experiences

The ultimate aim is to create better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration, enabling refugees to live in safety and continue making a valuable contribution.  The Week also provides an important opportunity for asylum seekers and refugees to be seen, listened to and valued.

In June 2018, Refugee Week will reach an important milestone: 20 years of celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees.

Our Table Event 

To mark World Refugee Week 2018, Our Table will be launching a new campaign: FOOD IS CULTURE.

From June 21st to 24th the Courtyard of the Christ Church Cathedralwill be the place to celebrate diversity.  Everyday from 11am -6 pm you can come along to share food with them, to hear a talk, to hear their stories

They say:

Food provides us with something more symbolic than basic nutrition. Food and its associations are endless; food is memory, it is affection, it is knowledge; it is an excuse to connect, both with friends and strangers; it is care, it’s politics, it’s interaction, it’s cultivation, it is the art of preparation, it’s identity.

You can find resources and ideas for activities as well as a list of 20 Simple Acts here

Note:  OurTable is a community-driven, non-profit project aiming to highlight the need to end direct provision in Ireland. Their goal is to facilitate change through conversation over food. You can find them on Facebook or online to keep up to date with activities and news especially during this week. 

 

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